When I first started working on this series of strips with Binary and Lila, I hadn't fully-formed the idea of including a title-card in-strip. Um, maybe I should back up. Remember the Monsters in America storyline that helped carry the strip to that magic 100? Well, aside from padding the archives, my idea has always been to start developing independent (albeit loosely-connected) stories that would exist under the umbrella of "Seminal Works". Monsters in America is one of those stories.

And now with Krumbine's School for Creative Misfits, a few other stories are about to be revealed. Conceptually, all of these ideas could stand independently, but this umbrella concept let's me play with all the possibilities and when I get tired of working with one set of characters, I get to flip the switch and work with a completely different set.

So how do I create that continuity? Title cards. Like I said, I've had the umbrella idea for a while but the in-strip title card was something I just figured out. And since I'm more than halfway through with Existentialism & Donuts debut, I probably won't integrate the title card into the strip until I switch the Harvey's dino-geek storyline.

Pointless creative continuity aside, this strip and concept is based entirely on a Facebook comments thread I wrote last summer. I wisely screenshotted the thread to save it for later. I'm not sure why I always turn to existentialism in times of depression or if they're just intertwined in my psyche ... but when paired with Binary & Lila, it makes a great platform to write about depression, antidepressants and other medications, coping mechanisms, and creativity.

DISCLAIMER: Although the visage of Lila is based on a real person, her character and personality is NOT. And although Binary Solo is based on a stray cat we took care of for a few weeks, Seminal Works' Binary is NOT a cat.

Meow.

So there's three tiny houses (that we've seen) in Krumbine's School for Creative Misfits. Binary and Lila occupy the first and while we probably won't see the actual webcomic Binary creates, we will get to spend a bit more time with these two ladies in an upcoming storyline called "Existentialism & Donuts".

Behold the tiny homes. First mentioned in last week's strip, these homes are part of another company Jordan started during his 4-hour nap. Tiny homes (literally: homes with livable square footage somewhere less than 500 sq ft -- the wheeled homes in the comic would be 200 or less) have always been a minor obsession of mine and the minimalist philosophy has gravitated to other parts of my life. Why haul around more vehicle than I need for myself and what little gear I might be taking to a job? So I drive a smart car. I also have a penis, so shopping frivolously is a massive conundrum to me -- unless we're talking about gadgetry, which I can usually find an exception for.

The idea of living in only the space you need to LIVE, and subsequently not paying for all the space you don't need, is appealing ... however, not always practical when you're married with 5 cats.

There are two sites that have been perpetually tabbed in my browser: Tiny House Talk, which posts great photo spreads and interesting designs almost every day; and Tiny House Nation, a 42-minute TV show on the FYI network (with episodes online that I watch -- cable cutting has been part of this trend!) about people building, downsizing, and moving into their tiny homes. It can get a little repetitive sometimes, but the builder/designer is always coming up really innovative stuff to make the most of the small space, and that's always interesting to see.

But really, what's more interesting than the tiny house movement, is the people who live there. And more on point: the people they BECOME after a change like that. Which I think makes a great foundation for some really interestingcharacters for Jordan and company to start interaction with.